Sudden Supreme Court vacancy seizes U.S. campaign spotlight

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The future of the U.S.
Supreme Court grabbed center stage in the country's presidential
campaign with the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia,
setting up an election-year battle over who should succeed him
on a nine-member bench that interprets U.S. law over such
hot-button issues as abortion, gay marriage, healthcare and
immigration.

The death of the 79-year-old conservative justice, announced
by Chief Justice John Roberts, promises to provoke a major
confrontation this year between President Barack Obama, a
Democrat, and the Republican-led U.S. Senate over who will
replace Scalia.

The prospect of such a battle drew swift and furious comment
from candidates vying to be elected president in November.

The U.S. president has the job of nominating justices, and
the Senate has the job of confirming. Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, whose Republicans control the Senate, issued a
statement saying the vacancy should not be filled until Obama's
successor takes office next January so that voters can have a
say in the selection.

In California for a summit of leaders from Southeast Asia,
Obama pledged to tap a replacement for Scalia and said he was
confident the Senate would have "plenty of time" to review and
vote on the nomination.

"I plan to fulfill my Constitutional responsibilities to
nominate a successor in due time," said Obama, who has the
opportunity to become the first president to appoint three
justices since Republican Ronald Reagan, who appointed Scalia in
1986. Obama did not indicate who he would nominate.

REPUBLICAN DEBATE TOPIC

The vacancy was the opening topic at the Republican
presidential debate in Greenville, South Carolina, late on
Saturday with several candidates calling on the Senate to block
any nominee sent up by the White House.

Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio, who emerged as a
factor in the race after finishing second in the New Hampshire
primary on Tuesday, argued an Obama pick would sow controversy
in a polarized campaign year.

"The country is so divided right now, and now we're going to
see another partisan fight take place," Kasich said. "I really
wish the president would think about not nominating somebody."

The opening on the court "underscores the stakes of this
election," U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said during the
debate.

Despite the court's conservative credentials, Republicans
have been highly critical, telling voters that a Republican
president is needed to name jurists who will overturn such
decisions as Roe vs Wade in 1973 legalizing abortion and one in
2015 legalizing same-sex marriage along with two decisions
upholding aspects of Obama's 2010 signature healthcare law.

"The next president must nominate a justice who will
continue Justice Scalia's unwavering belief in the founding
principles that we hold dear," Republican U.S. Senator Marco
Rubio of Florida said in a statement.

5-4 MAJORITY

There was more than partisan rancor on the minds of
Republicans: Democrats would likely be pleased to see Obama name
a replacement, which would tip the balance of the nine-member
court in favor of liberals after several years favoring
conservatives by a 5-4 majority.

Another Obama nominee has the potential to swing the court
in a more liberal direction, making this particular slot the
most contentious in modern politics. The last time a Senate of
one party confirmed the choice of the opposite party during an
election year was in 1988, when Justice Anthony Kennedy, another
Reagan appointee, was elevated to the high court.

"The Republicans in the Senate and on the campaign trail who
are calling for Justice Scalia's seat to remain vacant dishonor
our Constitution," Clinton said in a statement. "The Senate has
a constitutional responsibility here that it cannot abdicate for
partisan political reasons."

Both political parties already had made the future of the
country's highest court a campaign issue even though it usually
fails to resonate with voters and rarely ranks as a top issue in
public opinion polls.

Debating the court allows both Democrats and Republicans to
argue policy planks that are central to their message.

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton often speaks
at campaign rallies about the recent decisions of the court,
such as legalizing gay marriage, and how a Republican president
might name justices who could undo that decision.

Her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, often rails against
the 2010 Citizens United decision, which legalized unlimited
campaign spending by individuals and corporations.

Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the
Senate committee that would vet a court nominee, also called on
the White House to wait for the next president.
(Editing by Howard Goller)